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Repetitive Battles/Interactions in Games Without Constant Combat Make for a Forgettable Experience
Snack There are a lot of combat-based games that have breaks in combat where the player traverses a level and interacts with other content in the game. Bioshock is one example of a game to which this snack refers – the player has periods of combat, and stretches of time searching for pieces of narrative, resources, and solving puzzles. Just like a math teacher wouldn’t ask a student to solve the same problem twice on a test, game designers shouldn’t ask the player to fight the same battle twice (or solve the same puzzle twice). Sometimes these battles are changed only by environment, which can make the experience unique, but can also be used as an aesthetic excuse to introduce the same interaction twice. This is not to say, for example, there can only be one battle in a game with three common enemies – rather the outlying factors need to be different to keep the player interested and for he/she to have a chance to create a memorable experience. This can include hazardous obstacles in the environment, equipping the enemy with special weapons, giving the player/enemy a drastically different vantage point, offering different resources in the environment for attacking/defending/interacting with, disorienting the player through lighting/level design/enemy spawning. Examples Bioshock To revisit the Bioshock example, the game requires the player to fight against trios of the same type of enemy quite commonly. However, these battles are usually made unique by adding in different objects that different plasmids can interact with, drastically different cover and lighting, differing vantage points, and spawning enemies from unexpected areas. A specific interaction I remember from the game is the player enters a room with a shotgun in the middle of the room. When the player picks up the shotgun, the lights go out, and an enemy emerges from the dark to attack them, and as the player approaches certain areas and kills enemies, more spawn, and one even gets up off the floor when she looks deceased. This fight is made up of about four to five common enemies, but creates a memorable moment in gameplay by creating a very different situation than fighting them head-on in a hallway. . . . . . . Example: Batman Arkham Knight: In Batman Arkham Knight, there is a lot of batmobile fight sequences which are repetitive and forced into the story by the designers. Initially playing with the batmobile and blowing up tanks, drones or helicopters was a wonderful experience but as the game progressed, not much variety was introduced to these battles and it felt repetitive and started to bug me. At times it felt that the batmobile was a forced inclusion in the story. Here is a video of the battle with the batmobile. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 The entirety of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 felt like a repetition of the same gun fights. Each level looked different, but by the end of the game I felt like each battle sequence was the same. The player is forced to hide behind an object and shoot at the incoming enemies. It felt lazy and forced.